See any stirrings out there? A lose club stuck in a tree branch? Suspicious red arrow tacked to a light pole? If one day in the park counts, then yes. Here you see the Chicago Boyz performing in the Midnight Circus, at Foster Park, on September 22. Chicago Tribune critic Chris Jones was high on the performance, calling it "A good deal more than your typical local circus in the park." And drawn to the troupe's "global vibe."
I’ll take any kind of a vibe. Okay, a one day stand marks some kind of a start. I have always said that the closer to the outdoors a circus can get, the better off its chances are of gaining sanction from city hall and drawing a crowd. How fringe might they be? One of their early stars was Lola, a real dog. Any animal of any kind spells counter revolutionary in my mind. Give me more.
Flickering right on, here comes a glorious sign of future dates for a real circus in the U.S. And how did I come about this good news? I had to laugh, for ironically it was brought to my breathless attention by my cross-pond connection, Douglas McPherson, who covers the UK circus scene for The Stage and various other newspapers. He feels a bit of our pain. He must also feel a bit plum about how well the big tops are doing on his side. California based Circo Osorio? I remember that name from ten years ago, a thread-bare show under a small tent lasting about 40 minutes, including intermission. But ten years, later, hey, bring it on, guys! Your VIP seat plank prices? Not a problem!
I am learning in the Circus Corona waiting room to re-set my expectations down to humble. Might Plato’s Theory of Forms argue that any circus act need only recreate the essential elements of a form to merit our respect? I think that my visits to the great and little John Strong Circus taught me how to apply this.
Wanting to stay current, I walked the midway of websites and took the pulse of each. My readings:
Big Apple Circus. Deleted: the headline promising October dates at Lincoln Center.
Carson & Barnes: Website unchanged. I called their phone number, it rang and rang. Great news! The operator did not come on the line with. "you have reached a number that has been disconnected."
UniverSoul: Same.
Circus Vargas: Same.
Culpepper & Merriweather. Same. This is the most attractive of them all. The colors glow.
Feld Entertainment: No mention of the projected Ringling return next year.
And then I bumped into this outrageously insensitive image of American know-how thriving under tents on that other, infuriatingly prospering side of the pond.
Can you believe? What nerve they have, flaunting our imagery and hoopla, "The Greatest Circus on Planet Earth" Talk about shining our once intimidating dominance back in our faces. Let me out of here! I want my Barnum animal crackers back!
What do they have that we don't have?
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